Yes, we live in a gender biased country where people hail about gender equality in open letters, facebook statuses, articles and what not! But deep within, no one really cares about gender discrimination! No one really gives a damn about the discrimination done to you at work, because they have to continue getting their hefty pay slips each month. Well, that’s what I learnt from my bitter experience at work!

Women and men are different, each assigned different tasks by the society! If you are a girl, you are given different job offers, if you are a man you are proposed different positions. I being a girl with an MBA degree from a regular university, got into the corporate sector not that easily! After all, almost everyone out there prefers doing MBA to get a decent job. I was working in a small firm that was still growing and had promised me a gradual growth with the passing time.

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Dedicated to my work, I found solace in following the monotonous schedules that almost every individual lives while working in the corporate sector, knowing that I have a promising future ahead. With projects coming up one after the other, I was seeing myself climb up the virtual ladder to corporate success. But is life really that simple?

The regular happened! I fell in love with this awesomely interesting, intellectual and loving guy who meant the world to me. He would support me in my work, guide me in my problems and make sure I took good care of myself. Without wasting our times, we planned out a simple wedding and got hitched. With 4 days of ceremonies, we planned out a late honeymoon, so as to not disrupt our work commitments. I joined back my work like any other person does and exactly 7 days later, was handed my pink slip. I had no clue what happened and why! I was working on my old projects, my clients were happy with my work. So what had gone wrong?

I was just married and was slowly getting used to commuting from my new house to my workplace! And I still managed to report in time at work after making breakfast for everyone at home. Just because I was married now and had other added responsibilities apart from work, doesn’t mean I could be given a resignation letter to sign. I was outraged, pulsating with anger and had no clue what to say to the management. I pushed through the office doors only to see my seniors sitting with ready answers for my questions.

“Sorry Anusha, we will have to ask you to leave! You are good in your work, promising and hard-working, but we need someone who can stay with us for long. You just got married and it may be difficult for you to get into the schedule of your new house along with work. Enjoy your marital life! Best Wishes from us!”

That’s it? What was this? Was this the end of my corporate life? No and why? Just because I am a woman who just got married and now has additional responsibilities to care for a house, I am being asked to resign? Women are great multi-taskers! We are known for managing house and work like no man can. And with the government making it a law to give women a paid maternity leave for boosting Women Empowerment in the corporate sector, it should have been easier for us to work after marriage. But no! People still have old thoughts and mindsets about women.

May be it is just the small offices Or is it the same in the bigger companies? But, who has given men the right to think that women can’t manage both, home and work with perfection? Yes, we do have good days and bad days, but who doesn’t? Even men have such problems, then why are they not asked to resign? We have women in the corporate sectors like Indra Nooyi who have made it large in the corporate world. But in small cities, women like me are still stuck up big time, facing gender issues like never before.

Marriage and pregnancy are both different phases of OUR lives. I will say OUR, because when two people get married, both their lives change. Both get added responsibilities. When a couple plans to start a family, they both are considered Pregnant. It should be We are Pregnant and not I am Pregnant!

But still, despite all this, not a single woman or male colleague at work stood by me to voice against the management. Instead, I could see other younger women already thinking about their fates once they get married. But, I will not stop with this experience. I will continue to look for better job opportunities and share the financial expenses with my husband and make sure we have a better, life together. And yes, I will teach my kids about gender equality and make sure they stand by with their friends if they face such discrimination in future.

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